In Week 5, Indianapolis Colts running back Zack Moss rushed for a career high 165 yards and two touchdowns. As a reward, Moss was demoted to RB2. Obviously, it wasn’t because of his performance; it’s because star running back Jonathan Taylor is back in the mix. Taylor returned in Week 5, but was limited to just 10 snaps and six carries. However, Indy is now ramping him up, and he has his starting role back.
Now, everyone wants to know what that means for Zack Moss, who has been playing elite this season. Entering Week 6, Moss is third in the league in rushing with 445 yards, and he didn’t play Week 1. Will the Colts just stash him on the bench, trade him before the deadline, or have an elite two-man backfield? It seems like Indianapolis is planning for the third option, hoping for Taylor and Moss to run them to victory.
The question then becomes, how exactly will the carries be split? Former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew recently weighed in on that conversation. Sharing his opinion on how several backfields should split carries, MJD argued that Taylor should get at least 65% of the carries in Indy.
Maurice Jones-Drew says Colts should give Jonathan Taylor 65% of carriers
Jones-Drew explained that Moss is playing the best he’s ever played, so it wouldn’t really be fair to just let him stand on the sidelines. But, MJD also said, “you don't give a guy $42 million to be a rotational piece.” Ultimately, the former running back, who is very familiar with the AFC South, said that everyone will benefit from both running backs getting carries because they will stay fresh. However, Taylor deserves the lion share.
So, some quick math. The Colts are running the ball 30 times a game. If Indy follows MJD’s suggestion of a 65/35 split, that means Taylor would get about 19 to 20 carries a game and Moss would get around 10 to 11. That seems like a solid split. For as good as Moss has been, there’s a reason why Taylor was just made the third-highest paid running back in the NFL. But Moss has definitely proven that he deserves a solid workload each game.